hitting harder
by matchbookjealousy
Summary: based on the promo for 2x20 "Prom Queen". faberry hurt/comfort then semi-friendship.


**based on the promo for 2x20 "Prom Queen".**

**thanks so much to my amazing beta, particularly good finder! thank you so much for helping me with this, finder! you're awesome! *hugsies* ^^  
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**hope you like it. let me know!  
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><p>Her hand hits harder than she'd expected it to, the tell-tale sound that only a skin-to-skin slap can produce echoing through the empty bathroom. And there's blood, she sees it as it starts seeping through the line of broken skin on her teammate's cheek. It happens so fast, but when she thinks back on it everything will be moving in slow motion; Rachel stumbles backward into the wall, her head meeting the tile with a loud thud.<p>

Quinn's facial expression changes faster than it may have ever changed before - from blind anger to shock – as Rachel's tiny frame slumps to the floor.

Quinn is immediately crouched beside the other girl, flailing her hands slightly, unsure what to do.

After a few seconds (that feel strangely like hours), Quinn regains some of her usual composure and grabs her cellphone from where it sits in her handbag, and dials the first person she can think of.

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><p>Mercedes is chatting quietly with Kurt, Blaine, Tina and Mike in the choir room when her cellphone vibrates. She looks confused for a moment when she reads the caller ID.<p>

"Quinn, what's up?"

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><p>A half-minute later finds Kurt, Blaine, Tina and Mike following Mercedes quickly down the hallway.<p>

"'Cedes, where are we going? What's wrong?"

"Rachel needs help. Quinn's with her in the girls' bathroom."

The five glee clubbers quickly reach the specified bathroom and enter without hesitation.

Quinn is kneeling on the floor next to Rachel, pressing a damp paper towel to the girl's cheek.

"Oh my god, Rachel," Kurt says sadly, crouching down beside her, then looking to Quinn. "What happened?"

"I just found her a minute ago. She was probably trying to get away from Jesse and she tripped and fell or something!" Quinn says accusingly as she stands up. Her friends all share a look- they're clearly not convinced.

"It's all her fault! She ruins everything! I try so hard and I still fail! She's still pining after Finn, even though he broke up with her _three_ months ago! Why can't she just give up already! She's a cheater, and an obnoxious freak! It's her own fault she got hurt! It's all her fault! IT'S ALL HER FAULT!" Quinn's angry rambling has sparked tears, which have started to fall.

Her friends all look a bit shocked as the blonde continues yelling, becoming more and more emotional.

"It's all her- it's all her fault! It's all- her- fault!" She pauses to take a breath, her tears falling unhindered down her face, smearing her makeup. "Oh, god! Why do I do these things? I'm such an awful person! I'm sorry, so sorry! I didn't mean it! I swear! I'm so sorry!" Quinn sobs, sinking back down the floor. She pulls Rachel toward her, crying into her shoulder.

Tina and Mercedes pick the blond girl up from the floor, Kurt taking her place beside his semi-conscious friend.

"I didn't win Prom Queen. I told her it was all her fault, and then I- I-," she trails off, unable to finish her sentence. "She- she tripped and fell and hit her head. I- I swear I didn't- I'm so sorry, Rachel, so, so sorry!"

"Oh, Rach," he breaths, seeing how fragile his friend looks. "Rachel, you' gotta wake up, sweetie." He takes her hand in his, rubbing soothing patterns onto her soft skin.

Blaine kneels down also, checking Rachel's pulse in her wrist. He nods his head to Kurt, silently saying that her heart rate seems to be okay.

"Rachel, can you hear me? It's Kurt and Blaine," the darker haired boy prompts, hoping for an answer.

"Hm?" the small girl mumbles in reply.

"Wake up, Rachel. Can you do that? We need to make sure you're okay," Blaine instructs, hoping for another answer.

Rachel tries to pay attention to her surroundings, and blinks her eyes open. The first thing she notices, aside from the noise in the room, is the warm shoulder her head is resting on – Kurt's. She raises her head, smiling slightly at him.

"Oh, Rachel, thank god!" he says, wrapping his arm tighter around her. "How are you feeling? I mean, your head probably hurts really badly, but is there anything else? Are you dizzy? Confused? Anything?"

"A little confused, but not exceptionally. What happened? How- how'd I end up- on the floor?" She looks around, to see Blaine kneeling beside her to her left, and Tina, Mercedes, Quinn, and Mike standing in from of her by the bathroom sinks.

"You- uh- you fell, Rachel," Mercedes answer quickly, before anyone else can say anything. "And hit your head. We were all really worried." Quinn, who has recovered mostly from her earlier emotional breakdown, regresses slightly at Mercedes' words, but Rachel doesn't seem to notice.

"My head hurts," Rachel says, looking around slightly.

"Want some water?" Tina grabs a little cup from the stack that's been set out on the counter for the prom-goers to use and fills it with water from the sink.

After drinking her water, Rachel looks much better than she had a minute or two before, which is helping her friends recover from their earlier feelings of shock.

After taking off her heels (which are often difficult for her to stand in when she's in her normal state of total physical health), Blaine and Kurt help Rachel to stand up, cautious to not let go of her in case she should get dizzy.

"Thanks for doing all of this, guys. It really means a lot," the brunette says, smiling slightly at her friends. Her expression suddenly goes blank as her skin pales. Blain wraps a strong arm around her waist, and nods to Kurt for him to see what's caused the abrupt change.

"Rachel, what's wrong? 'You okay? You have to talk to me, Rach. What's wrong?"

She whines something that sounds a bit like "Kurt", but it's lost as she starts to slump forward again, Kurt wrapping her arm around her waist, and his arm around hers.

Both boys can feel her starting to slip, and Kurt motions to Mike to come help them. Rachel weakly wraps her arms around Mike's neck as he lifts her easily into his arms.

Kurt's relieved he'd taken the Navigator tonight, as everyone can easily climbs in. As they pull out of the school parking lot, he instructs Blain, who is riding shot gun, to get his GPS out of the storage compartment between them, and find the closest hospital. Mercedes is looking through Rachel's phone to locate her fathers' numbers. Quinn sits in the third row with Mercedes, looking out the window at the dark spring night, saying nothing. Tina and Mike sit on either side of Rachel in the second row of seats.

Mercedes leaves a message on the Berrys' home phone and Rachel's dad's cell.

"Hi Mr. Berry. This is Mercedes Jones, Rachel's friend from school. Rachel got hurt at the dance, so we're taking her to – Which hospital, Blaine? – Lima Memorial, and we should be there in about 10 minutes. Call me back when you get this message, or we'll just see you there soon! Bye."

In the back of her head, Quinn can feel some cruel words popping up. Words she's use countless times before.

"_She shouldn't have gotten in my way, and then this wouldn't have happened!"_

But she recognizes them for what they are and forces them down.

"_No, this was your fault. You accused her of something you had no proof of and then hit her. Rachel is not the one to blame! You are! You, and your stupid need to be popular!"_

Rachel, herself, goes in and out of consciousness over the course of the drive. She can feel the car moving, and her two friends on either side of her, and remembers the sound of dance music, then fast-moving feet on a linoleum floor, then cool air and the quiet sounds of crickets.

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><p>Twenty minutes after their departure, the seven of them have reached the Lima Memorial Hospital Emergency Room, and Rachel is taken upstairs for a CT scan and other tests.<p>

The six glee clubbers all sit quietly in the sitting area, where they've been told to wait for a doctor to come talk to them. A minute after they've sat down, a tall African American man approaches them. He's dressed in a white lab coat, but looks far too flustered to be Rachel's doctor. By the time he's reached the group of friends, Kurt has recognized him.

"Mr. Berry," he says, standing.

"Kurt, thank you all so much for calling me. I was in surgery and only just got your message. Have you been here long? How's Rachel? What happened?" The man replies, looking worried, but a bit less frightened now.

Mercedes stands to speak before Quinn offers herself up as dead meat. "She fell, Sir, in the bathroom. She hit her head on the tile and passed out for a minute. We thought she was fine at first, just a bit dazed, but then she fainted again, so we knew we should take her here."

"Well, thank you all for helping her. It really means a lot. I've called her father, so he should be here soon as well. I'm sure he'll want to thank you all too," he says, smiling slightly.

They all nod silently, not sure what else to say, but then Quinn stands up, looking remorseful and unusually timid.

"It was my fault, Sir," she says meekly. "We got into a fight and I slapped her and she fell," she continues, tears starting to fall, making her voice waver. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Berry. I didn't mean to hurt her, I really didn't! I- I'll pay for her hospital care, Sir. I will. I- I-," she stops when Mr. Berry raises his hand.

"I know, Quinn, I believe you. I can't forgive you on Rachel's behalf, that's something she has to do herself, but still, thank you very much for taking care of her," he says, with a sad smile.

A shorter Caucasian man with glasses approaches them, looking just about as frantic as Mr. Berry had, if not more. The taller man, pulls the other into him, smiling sadly.

"Is she okay? Where is she? Is she okay? What happened?" the other man asks quickly.

"This is Rachel's father, Hiram," he says to the group. "Her friends brought her in. They said that Rachel fell and hit her head. It doesn't sound too serious from what they've told me, but she's up getting a CT now, so hopefully we'll know more soon."

"Thank you so much for helping her," Hiram says to the kids, then turning to his husband. "Have you heard anything yet, Leroy?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure we'll be informed the moment she gets out of the lab," Leroy says, smiling supportively.

"Berry?" a voice asks from behind the two men. They all turn.

"Day, are you _Rachel_'s doctor?" Leroy asks the man in an identical white lab coat and blue scrubs.

"I am. I was pretty sure she was yours, but I wasn't positive," the doctor says, smiling. "She's going to be fine. We did a CT and all of the necessary blood work, and I think she's probably good to go. There wasn't any swelling, which was our primary concern, and I am going to assume that when we get her blood work back in-," he looks at his watch, "oh, about ten minutes, everything will be fine, and she'll be ready to go home. You just fill out a few papers."

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief as the Mr. Berry's follow Dr. Day to the elevator down the hall.

Ten minutes later, Rachel's surprised to see the entire glee club waiting for her- even Brittany and Santana- as she's wheeled into the sitting area. Kurt is the first to give her a hug. Second is Puck, then Finn, Mercedes, Brittany, and Sam. Artie offers a fist-bump, and everyone else happily pats her on the back, showing their relief that she's alright.

"Why don't we let Rachel relax with her friends for a bit, Hiram. I'm sure they're all anxious to hear how she is," Leroy suggests. The two men link hands and make their over to the ER reception desk.

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><p>For the next half-hour, they all just sit and talk- about everything and nothing.<p>

At around 11:00pm, the Mr. Berry's come back and suggest they all go home for the night, and go back to the reception desk to say goodbye to Leroy's colleagues once more. Rachel gets hugged by her friends again, before they make their way out of the building. Kurt throws a suspicious glare at Quinn, seeing that she hasn't left yet, but Rachel catches his look.

"It's okay, Kurt, really. I can handle this," she says determinedly, pulling him in for a second hug.

"If you say so, Ms. Diva," he replies, hugging her back. "Feel better, Rachel."

Quinn waits until Kurt has left the area – after throwing another threatening 'Diva glare' at her, to walk over to the other girl.

"I am so, so sorry, Rachel. Is there any way at all that I could ever make this up to you?" the blonde asks desperately.

"What happened exactly that _you're_ apologizing?" Hiram asks, the two Berry's having walked back over to them.

"No, Daddy, it's alright. Quinn and I got into a bit of a physical altercation, but it wasn't her fault I tripped. Please don't blame her. It was an accident, I promise."

"How about we let the girls talk alone for a few minutes, hon?" Leroy suggests to his husband, before turning to Rachel. "I'll be home in an hour or two, ok? See you in the morning?"

"See ya then, Daddy," Rachel says, giving the man a one-armed hug, smiling warmly. The Mr. Berry's walk away from them, out of earshot, and Quinn starts again.

"I really am sorry, Rachel," she says again. "It was terrible for me to even accuse you of purposely trying to make me lose, but I don't even know a way to apologize for slapping you. It was just- awful. I hope you can somehow forgive me, but I would totally understand if you don't," Quinn explains, tearing up again.

"I forgive you for the accusation, and I know you didn't mean for me to get as hurt as I did," Rachel says, matter-of-factly. "If you want to make it up to me, bring back the old Quinn. The Quinn we all got to see at the end of last school year. And, if you don't mind the suggestion, maybe get some help- I mean, psychologically. You seem so angry all the time, Quinn. Talking to someone might help you learn to deal with your emotions better. It'll make you a happier person, which will make _me _a happier person," the brunette explains, smiling as she finishes her thought.

"That's probably a good idea. Thanks, Rachel."

Quinn hugs her. It's the first time this has happened, and the action itself, in Rachel's opinion, almost makes up for her actions.

After a second or two, they break away, smiling. Quinn still feels guilty, and Rachel's head still hurts, but they're better, better than they were before, anyway.

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><p><strong>did you like it? maybe? <strong>

**reviews, as always, are always appreciated!**

**~matchbook ^^**


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